MYSTERY WIRE — The United States Department of Defense (DOD) has officially released three videos that show unidentified flying objects. The videos were initially released years ago thanks to the efforts of Luis Elizondo.
While the U.S. government is releasing the videos, it is not saying what it believes is in the videos. In the news release from the DOD it states, “DOD is releasing the videos in order to clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real, or whether or not there is more to the videos. The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as ‘unidentified.'”
WATCH: Luis Elizondo’s 2018 interview
Earlier this month, a new document acquired by Motherboard, was obtained from the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI), showed that after a New York Times article, AFOSI looked into the classification of the released videos, called ‘GoFast,’ ‘Gimble,’ and ‘FLIR.’ (FLIR’ is now known as the ‘Tic Tac’ video.) Originally, it found “all three videos were classified” and that, though a declassification request had been made for these videos, it was never granted.
Now, as of today, the three videos have been officially released and made public. The release of the videos was made through this news release from the DOD. The release below is the complete text of what the DOD put out.
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
U.S. Department of Defense
Statement by the Department of Defense on the Release of Historical Navy Videos
The Department of Defense has authorized the release of three unclassified Navy videos, one taken in November 2004 and the other two in January 2015, which have been circulating in the public domain after unauthorized releases in 2007 and 2017. The U.S. Navy previously acknowledged that these videos circulating in the public domain were indeed Navy videos. After a thorough review, the department has determined that the authorized release of these unclassified videos does not reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems, and does not impinge on any subsequent investigations of military air space incursions by unidentified aerial phenomena. DOD is releasing the videos in order to clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real, or whether or not there is more to the videos. The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as “unidentified.” The released videos can be found at the Naval Air Systems Command FOIA Reading Room: https://www.navair.navy.mil/foia/documents.
With the document released in early April, 2020 and now these videos being made public by the DOD, the U.S. government is confirming previous reports by Mystery Wire and other journalism outlets about the nature of the program and statements made to us by principal participants, including former Nevada Senator Harry Reid, and AATIP program manager Luis Elizondo.
The first hints about the AATIP program surfaced in October 2017 when former intelligence officer Lue Elizondo stepped onto a stage in Seattle and revealed that he had been in charge of a secret Pentagon study of encounters between U.S. military units and UAP’s, Unknown Aerial Phenomena, aka UFOs.
8 News Now was one of only two news organizations in the country to report on the event, organized by rock star Tom Delonge in order to launch his new project, To the Stars Academy, which Elizondo joined along with other former government insiders.
The story picked up steam two months later when the New York Times reported the name of the program AATIP or Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. At the same time, two previously unreleased videos were made public.. One of the videos captured a 2004 encounter between warplanes from the USS Nimitz carrier group and a vastly superior UFO dubbed the ‘Tic Tac.’
READ: Tic Tac UFO Executive Report
“I think we have a much better understanding of the depth and scope that the Department of Defense has played in recent times, not historical 40s and 50s. I’m talking very recently regarding the UFO phenomenon,” Elizondo added, “I think people will be surprised just how frequent and the volume in which these things are apparently recorded and observed by active duty military people on missions, around the world, by the way.”
RELATED: Luis Elizondo broke the dam holding back UFO info
Elizondo resigned from his Pentagon position eft the military and went to work for rock star Tom DeLonge, whose organization To The Stars Academy was instrumental in convincing the New York Times to publish the story about the Pentagon study. The Times’ story set off a tsunami of other mainstream media coverage of UFOs, much of it critical of the work Elizondo says he did for the government.
